Modifying Pay Equity Audits to Address New Legal Requirements
Employers have been conducting pay equity audits for decades to identify disparities in compensation that may create unfairness, legal risk, or other compliance issues. Recently, however, we have seen a spate of n ew pay equity requirements at the federal, state, and even local levels. These new requirements create significant additional challenges for employers conducting pay equity audits. Therefore, mitigating risk under 2024 regulatory frameworks, employers need to adopt a more sophisticated approach to the pay equity audit process. Over the last 10 years employers have seen many changes to the pay equity regulatory framework. States, municipalities, and counties have adopted (and amended) pay equity statutes, regulations, and ordinances. These statutory and regulatory changes not only impact legal risk, but also control the methods an employer uses to conduct pay equity audits. Key considerations now include the following: What protected classes should the employer ana...